Introduction to Human ServicesJeffrey, “A Human Services Professional is someone who is a facilitatorfor someone who is not able or not yet able to deal with issues in a healthy way. I am taking classes so that I can learn how to best help empower people changetheir situation by believing in themselves. I believe that people have theanswers within themselves, but may need help getting in touch with theirspiritual or intuitive self. As human services providers, we hopefully striveto model healthy behavior, including the fact that we are human, need supportfrom our peers, and can make mistakes. “”When a client is ready, we educate them to give them an idea of what isdestructive behavior, bring to their attention possible consequences of theiractions, and suggest ideas or alternatives.
Usually a client already knows allthis, they just never knew a better way or thought their way of dealing withlife was normal. I work on accepting each person where they are in their life,which takes strength. I may be saying in my mind, ‘Can’t you see your way outof the prison you’re in?’, but then I remember that I used to be in the sameplace, and it took years to find my way out. I still struggle with my addiction,and it still affects me, just not so profoundly. “”What I would like to do is work with teenagers.
As a teenager, I wasbefriended by a Young Life leader. He was a man in his 40’s and didn’t wantanything from me but to be my friend. When I drank beer at lunch, he didn’ttell me to not drink. I don’t remember his words so much as the feeling I gotwhen we were together. He was like a father/friend to me.
He seemed to careabout me unconditionally. He looked at me like a real human person, which mademe uncomfortable, which now looking back, was probably because I wasn’t used tothat. My own father lived in the same house with me, but he was not emotionallyavailable to me. My own father seemed to think that all women are good for issex and housekeeping. That scares me when I think of that now. My firsthusband thought of me only as good for sex, baby making, and housekeeping.
I amgrateful that I have wised up since then. My passion is to work in the alternative schools as a tutor or mentor,to help give kids some kind of an idea what life can be about. I may not seeresults right away, but I do believe that ‘being there’ for kids is aninvestment. They may not realize until years later as I did, that someone had apositive affect on their lives. ” 2One of my coworkers from Vietnam told methat in her country, the prisoners work for their food. I thought to myself, asI am sure many people have before, that we should try that here in this country.
I do not think that sitting in prison really helps anybody. I have heard thatthere are work camps where the inmates learn a skill or trade so that when theinmates are released into society, they at least have marketable job skillsworking in their favor. I think community service should be required as an alternative to jailor prison in some cases. Picking up garbage may seem demeaning, but I know of acity employee who makes a good salary picking up garbage around my neighborhood. Maybe if the people who threw the garbage on the ground had to pick it up, theywould care. Taking classes, GED or college, is popular in prison also.
I have afriend who learned computer skills in prison and is now working toward a degreein computer engineering. He is grateful he had the opportunity to take collegeclasses in prison, otherwise he may have never found out how much he enjoysprogramming computers. It seems to help his self esteem, because he seemsgifted in this area and people often ask for his help and advice concerningcomputers. I suppose that providing housing for convicted criminals would not costmore than incarceration.
It does not seem that imprisonment is much of adeterrent to crime. A Settlement House may seem idealistic, but is morefeasible than some may think. Sex offenders are often released into thecommunity. A new program has been implemented in which parole officers andpolice officers regularly visit released offenders. A step in the rightdirection was made when our community invited a psychologist from a sex offendertreatment facility to educate us about this population, rather than ignoring theproblem and hoping it will go away.
The psychologist told us that seriousoffenders are psychopathic; they do not know and do not care what is right andwrong, nor do they care who they hurt. They have no feelings or emotions. Evenso, I do not think that terrorizing or intimidating released sex offenders, as Ihave heard of in some cities, helps anybody. I think many criminals would be better off with the awareness andsupport of the community. It is often difficult for former prison inmates tofind shelter, and a transitional community setting may help resolve manyproblems. I have wondered if support from the community would help someoffenders.
Sometimes people fall into addictions because of something missingin his or her life. If we combine resources of therapy, job training,supervision, and community involvement, maybe we would see some positive changes. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to be more open minded. 3Children in grade schoolused to say I was weird. I eventually realized that my way of thinking isdifferent from that of many people. In high school I would verbally express mythoughts and people would say to me with amazement, “I have never met a personlike you.
” I guess some of my ideas and thoughts were quite creative andabstract. I like to think of myself as eccentric. Now that I am older, I tellmyself that only narrow minded people would think I am strange. I used to feellike I was born in the wrong century or wrong country. A positive aspect isthat my way of thinking allows me to be sensitive and open minded. I know howit feels to feel out of place.
Not just in a group of people, but in thisdimension we call “life on planet Earth”. I have become proud of mynonconformity. My way thinking is, “Why be normal?”What I have learned is to get in touch with my spiritual self. I canfeel a connection with people on this level. Sometimes I feel threatened oruncomfortable with people because of the vibrations I feel from them. I thinkabout how this will affect my career.
Will I be afraid of someone for notangible reason? Will I favor some people because of how I respond to thememotionally?Being different sometimes makes people stronger. Sometimes it makespeople suicidal. I have been to both places. I feel that because of situationsI have been faced with, I can relate to people with a variety of challenges andhelp emotionally support them through tough times.
Personally, I feel that Ihave survived by the grace of God. Some people think it is impossible to besaved by God, but they also told me they don’t believe in God. This isinteresting to me because I never believed in God until I received therapy foran addiction I am recovering from. It makes me wonder if God only blessespeople who are begging for healing, as I was. I guess I was ready to accept apower greater than myself. As a human service provider, I hope that I can helppeople in some way, otherwise it is not worth it.
I would like to think Ihaven’t gone through all this stuff for nothing. When I learned about Maslow’s theory in my psychology class, it madesense to me because I have experienced self-actualization in my life. Iexperience more of what I call spiritual awareness every day. I believe thatwhen a person feels he or she is in a safe environment, he can spend more timeon personal growth and awareness instead of wasting energy defending himself. Accepting people as a philosophy, I make a conscienscious decision everytime I communicate with people to be aware that what I see as a destructivebehavior is most likely a mode of survival for them. Being addicted tosomething is a desperate hunger for wholeness.
I think the process of life isso painful for some people, they opt for suicide. Death is seen as instantspiritual freedom and an end to human suffering. Emotional growth can bepainful and can take a lot of strength. We gain strength from our experienceswhich makes us stronger for more growth. It is all a process.
Sometimes thechallenges are so overwhelming, we need the support and strength of someone whohas experienced difficulties and believes there will be a light at the end ofthe tunnel. Learning about Erickson’s theories helps me understand how people maypass through stages in life. I do think that many needs not met in childhoodcan be met later in life. I know someone who said he didn’t need anybody and hewas better on his own, but as I got to know him better, he told me that he getslonely and is afraid of getting hurt.
As a young child, he was sent to livewith his grandmother because his stepfather was abusive. He felt guilty that hecould not be there to protect his mother. Because of these experiences, he isvery protective of his children and is very close to his mother. To protecthimself from pain, he refused to become emotionally attached to someone unlesshe knew her well enough to know she would not abandon him. In my opinion, itwould be therapeutic for him to be in a long-term relationship. 6 It’s the90’s.
Diversification is expected. Networking is important. When I worked inthe Community College Wellness Center, I would visit some of the local agenciesoffering services. I would rather refer someone to an agency if I knew of itsintegrity. Not only is my credibility on the line, but I am not doing a clienta favor by giving him or her a referral which may lead to disappointment.
In the 90’s, there are more trained mental health professionals thanever before in the history of civilization. Therefore, we are each allowed todevelop a specific skill rather than knowing a little of each area of need. From what I have read about history, people were first concerned about basicsurvival. Hopefully, by helping people meet basic needs, we can go beyond meresurvival. It seems that people are seeking more meaning in their lives.
I haveread that a goal for a woman up to the 1960’s, was to find a husband who wouldbe a good provider and not abusive, but now women (and men) want intellectualstimulation, someone they can have an intelligent conversation with. Marriage and family counselors are more acceptable now than when I wasgrowing up. It used to be that people would be ashamed to admit they were eventhinking about counseling, where now I here people almost bragging about it -learning to communicate with your family, if you did not grow up freelyexpressing your thoughts, feels wonderful. I plan to learn more about my field before I call myself a specialist. Being able to work with teenagers will probably require me to be a specialist inseveral fields, including juvenile, domestic violence and chemical dependency.
My goal is to receive a well rounded education. From the creativity and insightof teenagers to the wisdom and insight of senior citizens, my horizons arebroadened when I converse with people from different backgrounds. Whether weare advocates, educators, or directors, we are each trained to use ourindividual talents to create a functional system of human service workers. 7Get a job!Permanent birth control now mandated for every woman on the dole! Iadmit, sometimes these thoughts cross my mind. But I am also one of these women. What began as my American Dream ended as quickly as it began.
My husband wasin the Navy. I thought I would live a life of adventure, see new places, meetnew people. What really happened is that I ended up on an isolated militarybase, with a man who didn’t really care about me or his child. Being that Ihave felt the need for independence from a man, I do not think there are anysimple solutions such as ‘stay married’, or ‘get a job’. In my opinion it isunfair to ask a mother of a baby to go to work and put her baby in a daycare. Ithink children should be four or five years of age before put in daycare.
Many populations are in need of assistance. Sometimes I envy the womenwho live in ( ). They drive Mazda Minivans, take up hobbies, anddon’t need to work. Sometimes I wonder how many are unhappily trapped in thatlife. They know they could be one day away from losing their children, theirhome, everything. When I think of drastic welfare reform, what scares me is thecontrol someone can have over you when he knows that without him, you havenothing.
I consider myself a capitalist, but I can’t but help think about CEOswho make salaries in the millions. And about disabled people who live on a fewhundred a month. I think opportunities for education should be funded. Without education,many people have no marketable skills to earn an adequate living.
10It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure! In a job you’ll get burned out. If youfind a career you love, you will use a lot of energy, but the rewards will keepyou motivated. At the public library, there are many books to give you ideasand help you decide on a career. I found a group of books in the CommunityCollege Library issued by the US Department of Labor in which the authorsuggests listing a few things you would be interested in doing as a career. Ialso found a set of four books called Encyclopedia of Careers and VocationalGuidance.
Then decide which ideas would be a practical for you to earn a living. If you have a gift or ability, it feels good to use it to help people. Volunteering is a good way to find out where your talents lie. I have beenfortunate enough to have had the opportunity to be employed as a work-studystudent by several departments on my college campus. I found out by on the jobexperience what I love to do. Is it possible to go to school or receive on thejob training’sometimes where there is a will, there is a way.
I know somepeople who manage apartments, therefore do not need to pay rent for a place tolive. They receive financial aid and food stamps while they are in school. What some people do is find out which professions are in demand, or willbe in the future. These trends can be found in publications such as governmentstatistical manuals. If there is something you think you would like to explore, maybe you couldtalk to people who are willing to take the time to explain how they carry outtheir responsibilities for their work.
Bring a list of questions so the personyou are interviewing has an idea of what specific aspects of their career youare curious about. People who are happy with their careers are usually quitewilling to talk about themselves in this way. I know someone who owns his ownbusiness. He began as a backyard mechanic and now ten years later runs a verysuccessful auto repair shop. For him it means long hours, but he is very proudof his accomplishments. He says there is nothing like being your own boss.Social Issues
